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47

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The Chairman : That is the time I allude to. It appears from the evidence that the police Were unaware that it was a gunshot wound until the next day ? —Yes. On suspicion of murder it is reported, and it is not usual for the doctor to examine the body until he gets the Coroner's warrant to make the post-mortevi examination. Of course there is nothing to prevent the police making an examination for their own purposes. The Chairman : There is another knife here (alluding to the sheath-knife); would you tell the Committee whether it might have been used to stab the man? —I do not know. It may have been. I should like to test the knife first. One thing is, that three years ago that knife was sharper round the point than it is now. Mr. Gully : Would it not be blunted by striking against the bones?— There is no doubt of that, because the instrument used struck the spine several times. The cuts give evidence of having been made from above downwards, so that the second edge of the knife would not be used in making the wound, except at the point. The Chairman : Any one committing such a number of stabs, do you think it probable that there would be no blood on the murderer's clothes?— Yes, Sir, for this reason : the wounds made on the side through the clothing to the heart were the first wounds made. There were two wounds beneath the angle of each jaw, quite close to each other, and it is impossible to suppose that they were inflicted during a struggle, they were so evenly done; the victim was probably dead, and the head deliberately turned over from one side to the other. My assumption is that the wounds through the chest were the first wounds, and the bleeding would be entirely internal bleeding, and these other body wounds would cause little or no hcemorrhage. The gunshot wounds were the first inflicted, of course, but they made little effect. The wounds by the gunshot would not prevent him walking twenty miles. It would not prove fatal except from shock. The Chairman : Do you not think that the shot would have been driven in further by the gun here in the room ? —I do not know, Sir ; I have not tested it. The large knife [produced] could not have made the wounds; I believe it is too wide altogether. The wounds from the chest to the heart-show distinctly that it must have been a very sharp tapering instrument. The Chairman : Have you ever seen a body that has been killed by an assassin from stabbing?—l cannot remember a similar case at present. I have seen men brought into the hospitals stabbed in sailors' quarrels. Most I have seen have recovered. The wounds at the back of the deceased may have been made when he was running down hill. From the whole of the circumstances and from the condition of the body those wounds on the back were merely hap-hazard. Immediately he fell the assassin went for the fatal parts. Mr. Allen (referring to photographed pieces of paper): You have not any doubt about this being the paper you gave him (Mr. Tasker) ? —Not the slightest. Mr. Kelly : You do not consider it possible that it could have been other than a bullet that was fired that caused the mark in the coat and vest ?—lt is utterly impossible. Mr. Gully : Now, do you not know that shot fired from some guns at short distances would carry together?— Yes. Mr. Gully : Do you not think it could have been so in this case ?—You would have to go so close with the gun that the powder would burn the coat. The shot having struck the coat would scatter and would not have slit down the waistcoat. When it struck the knife and coin in the pocket it would have scattered. There would have been some scratch on the body from the shot, but there was no sign of a single shot. There was only one small mark on this part of the body, and that corresponded with the position of the knife and coins in the waistcoat pocket. Mr Gully : Do you think that if the bullet had been wrapped up in paper it would have made this hole ?—lt is possible. Mr. Earnshaiu : Did you try to make a hole like that with a bullet wrapped up in paper ?—■ No ; but we tried it with shot and failed. The Chairman : Do you think that there was an ordinary charge of shot fired into the body ? —About an ordinary charge. The Chairman ; It is shown from the evidence that Chemis had bullets at his disposal. You would infer that the gun was loaded with bullet in one barrel and shot in the other ?—Yes, Sir. Mr. Lake : Could you tell us something about the sequence of events. I understand that the murder was committed on the 31st of May, and that you dissected the mass from the body on the Ist of June. It was not teased before the inquest—not until the 6th. Are you sure that when you first put it away you wrapped it up in one, two, or more pieces of paper. You did not say anything about the wrapping?— You could hardly expect me to take the mass of blood, &c, without wrapping it up in something. On the evening of the Ist of June I dissected it out. I took the mass in my hand, and tore a piece of newspaper in which I placed the mass and folded it up, and put it back in my bag. I put it away, and next produced it at the inquest. At the inquest I just produced it as part of my evidence. It was of no interest to anybody. It might have been on the table, but it was not handed round. I would not swear that it was on the table. Mr. Lake : Did you open it at the inquest ?—No. Mr. Lake : On the 6th you took it out ?—Yes; I took notice of the piece of paper in which it was wrapped. A hole was left in the piece of paper used as a wrapper —a portion of the wrapper was left behind adhering to the mass. Mr. Lake: You noticed, then, that the piece of paper adhered to the mass. You gave distinctly in evidence that there were certain words on this paper—a vessel's name—" Hudson," I think, for one. Did it not occur to you to look at the piece of paper from which you had extracted this mass, as to date? —The first thing I did was to remove the wrapping and burn it before I began to turn out the mass, it being extraneous matter. If I had kept it it would have been extremely valuable. Mr. Lake : Supposing that this piece of paper had been of the same date as that found in the wound, could it by any possibility have got there from the piece of paper you had the mass

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